Heroes: A Novel

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I suppose one of the things that is a deciding factor in which books get to be put on the GCSE line-up is how they are written, and in fact, the rich language used is something that all of my GCSE texts have in common, which I love. This book was the second of my GCSE texts. Given my prior enjoyment of 'Of Mice and Men' and my fondness for war books, I was quite looking forward to reading this, and dived eagerly into it straight away.

I even liked Larry, to an extent, if 'like' is the right word. I thought he was an intensely interesting and complex character, and I could never quite make up my minds as to whether I admired him, felt sorry for him, or downright disliked him. Was he a victim or a villain? I am still undecided. This book was interesting and I thought that the characters were well introduced as we are given a lot of information for such a short book but overall it just wasn't my cup of tea.Each individual story is paced nicely, and all three intertwine, all the pieces coming together to form the picture that is Francis' life. Francis lies to Mrs Belander about his parents because he does not want to be recognised. He goes to bed one night thinking about all the soldiers in his platoon close platoon A company of soldiers.. Their horrific injuries are described. He meets an old friend, Arthur Rivier, but does not reveal his identity. Arthur invites Francis for a drink at St Jude’s Club where he sees several other old friends who have also returned from the war. Enrico Rucelli: Francis met Enrico during his time at war. His experiences are used to show the extent of war as he lost both his legs and his left arm. He has a cheerful attitude despite his injuries but he does feel despair. Likewise when Francis throws himself onto a grenade, it appears to show a willingness to sacrifice his own life to save the lives of his comrades but later on he reveals that his real motivation was a way to committing suicide without disgracing his family. Thus his act of apparent selfless heroism hides a selfish action.

For his past holds a bitter secret, one which he has vowed to revenge and which he can resolve only through his final, desperate plan: to destroy the man who betrayed him as a boy. She takes a long time to understand that what happened that night was Larry’s fault alone. She admits this to Francis at the end of the novel, adding that she felt unable to blame Larry because she knew that nobody would believe her: The police? He was a big war hero. He didn’t beat me up. No visible wounds. She apologises to Francis, saying I shouldn’t have said those things to you that day... You weren’t to blame for what happened. She adds, I realised that later... So the reader sees that, like Francis, she has carried a heavy burden for years. Maimed and disfigured whilst fighting in the World War Two, young Francis Cassavant is returning to his hometown as a hero. But one who must hide both his face and his identity. Francis is a good Catholic boy. He has been raised in the Catholic religion, like most people in Frenchtown. He went to St Jude’s Parochial School, which was run by nuns, and he used to be an altar boy in St Jude’s Church. He prays often, for his dead parents and brother; for men who were in the war with him; for the girl he has always loved, Nicole Renard; and finally, I pray for Larry Lasalle. He adds that this is the man I am going to kill. As a result of his religious upbringing, Francis also carries a lot of guilt with him.Francis admits several times to being jealous of Nicole’s close friendship with Larry LaSalle. As Francis watches Nicole dancing with Larry, he says that jealousy streaked through me as Larry LaSalle tossed her in the air, letting her fly, and later, when Nicole invites Francis to a party at her house, saying that Larry had approved of the idea, Francis feels the instant agony of jealousy. Throughout the past few years, I have grown as a person- and so has my taste of books. I used to adore YA books, with cliché romance plots and heartwarming love stories to more sort of philosophical books, which most of the stories took part in 20th century america.

Before, I felt that Francis not killing Larry was a slight let down but now I realise that not every book needs a plot twist to be great. I don't think Robert Cormier wanted this novel to be exciting and intriguing - I think he would have wanted it to be thought-provoking and it is! I could argue that the book was anti-climatic but I wasn't disappointed when Francis wouldn't shoot Larry. I felt that Larry had got his deserved fate when he lost his legs because it meant he could no longer be the Larry LaSalle he was (strutting about like Fred Astaire and with an air of self-confidence) and LaSalle is described as a shadow of who he used to be.

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Larry encourages Francis to take up table tennis, at which Francis excels. He wins a tournament and grows more confident. Nicole calls him her champion. This is another one of those books which my son brought home from school, apparently it is part of his GCSE English curriculum. I wasn't really looking forward to it and I was thinking it was just going to be a war thiller. Arthur Rivier: Another veteran from Frenchtown. He takes Francis to the St Jude Club and buys him a drink. He interacts in a positive way with the other veterans but it later becomes clear that he too is traumatized by his experience at war. He once played baseball for the Frenchtown Tigers and recognizes Francis by the sound of his voice.